ISLAMABAD- India and Pakistan are scheduled to resume peace talks Tuesday for the first time since Islamabad's new civilian government took over from military rule.
But analysts said the instability of the new government could hinder progress.
Bombings last week in the Indian city of Jaipur that killed 61 people seem likely to overshadow the talks, to take place in Islamabad.
India has in the past accused Pakistan-based Islamic militants of involvement in such attacks. And incidents in disputed Kashmir, including one on Monday in which the Indian army said it lost a soldier due to firing from the Pakistani side, could also affect the talks.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as well as President Pervez Musharraf.
Pakistan's state news agency reported that Mukherjee might also meet Asif Ali Zardari, the chief of the main coalition party seen as the power behind the prime minister, as well as ex-premier Nawaz Sharif, chief of the junior coalition party.
Pakistan's new coalition government formed by parties that triumphed in February elections that dealt a heavy defeat to allies of Musharraf says it wants to press on with the peace talks that the president began in early 2004.
But a breakthrough in the talks may be hampered by a falling out within the coalition over how to restore Pakistan's judges fired last year by Musharraf.
The new government is so fragile,' said Moonis Ahmar, a Pakistani international affairs analyst. As long as the fragility is there, then it cannot make a decision.'
The negotiations between Pakistan and India are aimed at resolving their conflict over the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir. So far the talks have diminished the possibility of war, and fostered cultural and transportation links, but achieved little else.
Now there is no focal point and the prime minister is just bogus,' said Pakistani political analyst Talat Masood. He doesn't have the power and everyone is looking over the shoulder to Mr. Zardari or others to Nawaz Sharif.'
Analysts say the talks could lead to easing of travel and visa restrictions but no headway is expected on core issues including the military confrontation in the high-altitude Siachen glacier area, and, of course, Kashmir.
Ashok Mehta, a strategic analyst in New Delhi, predicted little progress partly because India was uncertain if the new Pakistani government would continue Musharraf's policies.
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